Wedding Photography, a Beginner's Guide

Wedding Day Magic 

I have 'officially' photographed only two weddings and one was a long time ago. The other was just a few days ago so the experiences I'm sharing are fresh in my mind.

I was delighted to be asked to be the wedding photographer for my friends' wedding especially because they gave me complete freedom to approach the day in my own way.  I prefer to capture informal, natural images, noticing the details around me and the expressions of the people as they are enjoying themselves.  This was the perfect commission for me.

Confetti

The first thing I wanted to make sure of was that I understood exactly what the bride and groom were looking for.  Did they want getting ready photos, formal groupings, who must I make sure to include etc. So my first piece of advice is to have these discussions and make a checklist so nothing gets missed.

1.  Find out what the bride and groom expect.

The next thing that I wanted to do was make sure my equipment was clean and functioning correctly.  I cleaned my cameras and lenses, I made sure I had a backup camera, charged up batteries, checked my tripod was working smoothly, bought an extra memory card and worked out how I was going to carry it all on the day. I have to admit I am no expert with flash photography, I prefer to shoot in natural or available light and I decided that this was not a time to try using new equipment so I realised I would have to be creative in some situations in order to capture the whole day.

2.  Check out your equipment.

Ideally it would have been great to be able to check out the venues before the big day, I could do this with the reception as it would be in my friends' garden, but not with the Register Office.  For this reason I arranged to arrive early on the day so I could work out the best position for my tripod, see where the light was falling and work out the best camera settings to use.  I am so glad I did this because the room where the ceremony took place was a real challenge for me.  It is decorated, walls, floor, chairs, in a dark mid blue while the front of the room, where the ceremony would take place, is dominated by a huge, beautiful, mullioned window with bright sunlight flooding in.  Lovely to look at but a grade A challenge, especially with no fill in flash to use.

3.  Check out the venue(s).

Fresh flowers

Getting to know the bride and groom and understand the efforts they have gone to in the preparations for their special day will help to make sure important details are captured. My friends had done all the preparation themselves or by family members, including making all the floral displays, the bride's bouquet and hair accessory, all the food, hand made signs for the reception, and a magnificent centrepiece of cascading paper cranes that had all been folded by hand in the weeks leading up to the wedding!  These things helped to make the day so very special and I made sure I captured them too.

4.  Focus on the details.

A thousand paper cranes

I would also recommend staying vigilant, looks for fun things in the reception, happy faces, fun activities.  If there are children around watch what they are up to, you might get a cute shot with them.  Watch peoples' faces as they are greeting each other, especially friends who haven't seen one another for a while.  Capture anything unusual too.  At this wedding fire pits were lit in the garden later in the evening and people were toasting marshmallows.

5. Capture the fun or anything unusual

Toasting marshmallows

Although I found the day exhausting, and a little nerve-wracking in parts, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  My last suggestion to you if you are about to embark on your first wedding is, take deep breaths, ask for help if you need it and enjoy yourself!

Equipment links:

Park Cameras, Wex Photo Video, Pic Stop